Just a few short years ago, if you had less than $20k to spend on a brand-new ride, you had your choice between a few flavors of the same driving-death theme. Every option out there was cramped, ugly, noisy and full of do it your own damned self amenities like manual locks and windows. If you were lucky, you might get power brakes, but if you wanted power steering the polite salesman at the dealer would ask you to lay a few more bills in his sweaty palm. Suddenly, that’s all changed. We could think of ten or more really excellent cars that fall under the 20-large mark, and manufacturers keep upping their game with each new model. Case in point is the 2009 Nissan Cube. You may be all Cube’d out after our barrage of posts on the new box, but hop the jump to have a look at my first impressions.

During the press introduction, Nissan laid out at least five models from four different manufacturers they felt the Cube would directly compete with – cars that ranged from the equally new kid on the block Kia Soul to pillars of the segment like the Honda Fit and Scion xB and xD. The company knows if you’re going to wade into a pool that cram-packed, you better have a product that can keep from getting dunked, and it seems like they’ve succeeded. The Cube has a number of strong suits that put it ahead of its competition, starting with price.

At $13,990, the Cube is priced on par with the rest of the competition out there. We’ve already prattled off the vast array of standard features this Nissan has to offer, but as a refresher, everything from power locks, windows and electronic power steering and cruise control is part of the package. As I said above, those are traits this segment now demands, but there are two other features the Cube has going for it that aren’t as readily found in the other manufacturers’ garrisons.

Nissan has managed to work a surprising amount of space into its pint-sized rig. Viewing the Cube from outside, even someone as short as myself (just shy of six feet) can easily see over the box’s roof without a problem. Whereas most rigs in this segment seem to have taken a page from the SUV book of height, the Cube is actually low-slung. Given its stumpy stature, you’d expect the kind of neck-cramping head space the OG Ford Festiva had to offer, but that’s not the case. Sit down in the front or back and you’re treated to a cavernous roof line. That’s not ad-speak cavernous. That’s, sitting fully erect I had at least nine-inches of space over my red-headed dome, cavernous. All that room is thanks to the fact that the Cube is as tall as it is wide — something that lends to the car’s stocky look.

Speaking of looks, the Cube is surprisingly handsome in the flesh. Full disclosure: I don’t dig on boxes. When the Scion xB hit the states back in ’04, I couldn’t wrap my head around why anyone would willingly drive the rig. The thing about Nissan’s effort is how genuinely interesting the exterior is. The rounded, porthole windows are recessed slightly, the massive wheel arches wander into complex curves and the front and rear fascias boast genuinely smart looks. This isn’t some slab-sided bore-fest. Everywhere you look on the car there’s something else to hold your attention, and people take note. Cruising through South Beach, we pass metal worth more than my mortgage and still people flag us down to ask what we’re driving. If Nissan could take every 18 year-old potential male buyer through this neighborhood, they’d sell these cars by the dozen. All it takes is one bikini-clad hottie asking if she can have a ride around the block.

Pages: 1 2